Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Friday he will keep pushing to hike the 5 percent consumption tax until all the naysayers in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, including kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, are on the same page with him.
Noda is in a bind. The opposition camp refuses to discuss raising the sales tax as a way to cover snowballing social security costs, even though its main element, the Liberal Democratic Party, has advocated a hike. Core members of the DPJ-led ruling bloc also oppose an increase.
Noda hopes to submit a tax reform bill that includes the consumption levy hike to the Diet by the end of March, but as his leadership appears to keep eroding, so do his chances to win his goals.